Boxing champ Austin Trout: No charges after El Paso arrest

World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication early Tuesday at a West Side fast-food restaurant -- but Trout said the El Paso police told him they were dropping the charges and said the entire incident was a misunderstanding.

"We were sitting at a table at Taco Cabana (7800 N. Mesa), eating our food and a fight broke out at a table next to ours," Trout said Wednesday afternoon, taking a brief break from a training session. "The police officer said I was involved and I told him I don't fight for free. It's funny. They arrested everyone who wasn't involved in the fight.

REPORTER

Bill Knight

"The police officer said I was intoxicated," Trout said. "I told him I wasn't. He said he could smell it on my breath and I asked to take a breathalyzer and he said he didn't have to give me one. They just held me for the required time, I paid a booking fee ($105 bond) and I was released. It was all just a mistake."

El Paso County Jail records show Trout, 27, was arrested about 4:30 a.m. He was booked into the jail at 8:50 a.m. the same day, and released about two hours later after posting the bond.

According to an El Paso police report obtained by the El Paso Times, several officers from the Westside Regional Command Center were dispatched to the Taco Cabana restaurant about 2:30 a.m. on a fight call.

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When the officers arrived, they saw several people yelling inside the restaurant. One officer entered the restaurant and noticed chairs, tables, food and drinks "strewn about the floor." Employees at the Taco Cabana pointed out those allegedly involved in the fight, including Trout and three others, identified in the report as Daniel Man Kim, Antonio Brown and Selina Ortega.

Trout, who was born in El Paso but lived his entire life in Las Cruces, is coming off the biggest fight of his career and is on the verge of an even bigger one. The Mayfield High graduate is 26-0 with 14 knockouts and won a dominating unanimous decision over boxing legend Miguel Cotto on Dec. 1 in Madison Square Garden, defending his WBA junior middleweight title for the fourth time.

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, the WBC junior middleweight champion, is 41-0 with 30 knockouts and is probably Mexico's brightest boxing star today. Boxing websites have reported Trout and Alvarez will fight May 4 in Las Vegas if the deal can be finalized.

Bill Knight may be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com; 546-6171. Follow him on Twitter @BillKnightept